Race The Wind
by DragonLadyRelena
Summary: Sequel to "Take To The Skies". It's been five years since Hiccup and Toothless defeated the Red Death, ushering in an unprecedented era of peace on Berk. However, rumblings of an old enemy intent on conquering the world brings out an unexpected ally, closer than Hiccup ever suspected. Can they win or will the dragons disappear from Berk, forever? Fem!Hiccup, Male!Astrid.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _How To Train Your Dragon 2_ , DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell do. I'm just having a little fun.

 **AN:** You guys asked for it, here it is! The continuing tale of Toothless and the scrawny girl he would do anything for. Now, follow along on their continuing adventures and please don't forget to review!

Fair warning, I'm not including the race, mostly because I'm not sure how to write it. I've tried several times, and it comes out jerky and uneven. So rather than subject everyone to that, I'm leaving it out.

That said, onward!

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 **Prologue:**

 _Toothless stalked toward her, his pupils so thin they were almost nonexistent in his eyes. He opened his mouth, and Hiccup was horrified to see the gas building in his throat. "No, Toothless," she cried, desperate to reach her nest-mate before he did something he'd never be able to forgive himself for. "You can fight him, I know you can. You're my best friend, my_ brother _, and I won't believe that you can't beat him!" It seemed she was getting through to him for a moment, but with a kind of groan-growl, he crept toward her. There was no way she'd be able to outrun him, or even dodge out of the way. Despite her improved prosthetic, she still wasn't able to move quickly on snow and ice, and it certainly didn't help that her head was ringing from whatever the monster behind Toothless was doing to him. To them._

Kill her, _the voice whispered in their minds, hypnotic, soothing but insidious._ Kill her and the pain stops.

 _The bond between them vibrated, a plucked string, before shattering like brittle metal under a hammer in a forge. "No!" She couldn't believe it, simply couldn't process what had just happened, and she froze like the ice behind her. Her heart felt like it stopped beating and her mind was a complete blank as she fell to her knees in shock. There wasn't even a hint of the bond that they'd shared for almost six years, just an empty hole that would never be filled again unless she managed to save him. Hiccup wasn't sure how, but she knew if there was even the smallest chance, she'd do whatever it took to get him back._

" _Hiccup!" Her father's voice, quickly followed by another, female and somehow familiar, rang in her ears, jolting her out of her shock, but she wouldn't- simply couldn't- give up on trying to get her friend back._

" _Dad, no!" she cried when she saw what he was about to do. She leaped for Toothless, hoping to change the direction of the blast before her father reached them. A bright purple flash filled her vision, quickly replaced by white-hot pain, then blessedly, nothing._

* * *

Hiccup shot up in bed, breathing hard and with her heart trying to pound its way out of her throat. Outside, the sun was just rising in the east, tinging the sky a gentle pink. Toothless lifted his head, eyes blinking open and she could feel the confusion, the potential heartbreak through the bond. She threw off the furs covering her and made her way over to where he lay. With a wiggle, Hiccup curled up between his body and his wing and shuddered in remembered fear and helplessness. _What was that?_ Toothless asked quietly, wrapping himself more securely around his Hiccup. Even though he could nudge her dreams in happier directions, he'd been too caught up in what was happening to do so, this time. His voice had grown deeper in the five years since they'd first bonded, and he'd grown considerably in that same time span. The old saddle didn't fit anymore and he now had an upgraded one that she'd spent countless hours on.

"I don't know," she replied, her voice hitching as she tried not to cry. "Probably just a nightmare." She fervently hoped it was simply a nightmare, as she didn't think she could handle the alternative. They'd grown so close during the last five years that she saw him as more than her friend: they were family now, and she didn't want to lose him.

 _Perhaps,_ he allowed, not wishing to frighten her more, but knowing it needed to be addressed at some point. _We'll just have to be careful, yes?_ She nodded, relaxing into his warmth as his purr soothed her heightened nerves. Hiccup was almost asleep again, more than ready to let the nightmare go, when her father's voice rang out from downstairs.

"Hiccup!" She groaned, not wanting to move, but her stomach had other ideas as the scent of breakfast was making its way upstairs. "Come and eat!"

"Coming, Dad!" she hollered back, pushing herself to her feet and stretching. "Remind me to take this off when it's time for bed, bud," she said, gesturing down to the flight suit she'd taken to wearing. "It's not all that comfortable for sleeping in."

 _You're the one who wanted to fly last night, my Hiccup,_ he reminded her with a laugh, _and with how cold it was, you needed the extra warmth. I can't have you getting sick._

"I know," she giggled, quickly tying her hair, thankfully back to it's original length after the whole Red Death incident, back into a braid. She'd gained a few inches in height, finally topping out a little under six feet, keeping trim but now she was well muscled. "The moon was almost full last night, and it was simply spectacular to see it from above the clouds." He hummed his agreement as he stretched, looking like a large black cat before shaking himself from head to tail. She made her way downstairs, Toothless on her heels, following the scent of breakfast and her father's voice when he hollered for her again.

All around the village, the Terrible Terrors were already up and singing to greet the morning. Despite their rather scratchy and often chaotic thoughts, she had learned that Terrors had excellent singing voices, and they took a great deal of pleasure in singing at dawn and dusk. They also had a tendency to go after rats and other vermin, so each home had one, and there were several stationed around the food storage buildings. It had been one of the more beneficial changes that occurred when the dragons moved in five years ago and Hiccup couldn't be prouder of the two groups for finding ways to work together in peace.

* * *

Stoick barely looked up from cooking as he heard Hiccup and Toothless come downstairs, suddenly nervous about the coming conversation. He wasn't getting any younger, and though the relationship between Hiccup and Anstred was progressing nicely, he couldn't escape the fact that Hiccup was his heir and it was time she stepped up to her duties. He heaved a sigh, wondering what he'd do with himself when she took up the chiefdom. Spending the last four decades as chief had become something of a habit and it would take time to get used to having nothing to do all day except what he _wanted_ to do. _It would be a change,_ he thought to himself with a chuckle as he scooped eggs and sausage out of the pan onto plates and set them on the table.

"Good morning, Skullcrusher," Hiccup chirped as she stepped around the Rumblehorn that had attached himself to her father. He rumbled in reply, making her laugh. That was something else that had taken some getting used to. Her ability to hear all the dragons in the village had been both a blessing and curse, for both Hiccup and Stoick. It made it easier to find out what the dragons needed or if they were sick, but at the same time, her attention sometimes wandered when a problem presented itself. She seemed to have a better handle on it these days. He was sure, though he couldn't prove it, that she seemed able to have two conversations at once: one with the dragon needing her and whoever stood in front of her. "Morning, Dad." He bent to one side and she kissed his cheek in greeting.

"Sleep well?"

"Once I finally got there," she hedged, shifting her shoulders. "Odd dreams." Sensing she didn't want to talk about it, at least not yet, he nodded and seated himself across from her. Their relationship had changed for the better: father and daughter were closer than they'd been during the first fifteen years of her life, and Hiccup couldn't be happier about that. Though he still put the village first more often than not, he took time to listen to her ideas when things were quiet and no one needed their attention. He found himself agreeing to more and more of them as time went on because he saw the potential benefits to the village. Once he truly understood what one of her particular contraptions was for, he saw just how much she had been trying to do for the people of Berk her whole life. He just hadn't been listening then.

"Looking forward to the race today?" That was as good an opening as he could think of, despite having worked up to this moment for more than a week. For a man of his eloquence when speaking to crowds or other chiefs, when it came to his daughter, he was usually tongue-tied and left fumbling for words. It might have been easier if she was his son, but he had come to realize that he wouldn't have her any other way than she was.

"Yeah, Dad, we are," she replied, tossing a smile over her shoulder at Toothless. "Should be fun." Stoick let the silence hang after that, unsure of how to broach the subject. While they were closer now than they had been, this was still a bit of a sore spot between them. She often told him that she understood his duty to the village, but she sometimes wished he could just listen or react as her father first and chief second. Stoick had never told her that he often wished for the same: his chiefly duties had made him miss out on so much of her life, and his grief for his lost wife had caused him to push her farther away than he should have. They'd been making up for lost time, but they both knew that Stoick wasn't a young man anymore, and eventually, they'd be parted from each other.

 _Part of the reason you don't argue with him as much,_ Toothless reminded her as he settled into his own breakfast, eating enough to be full but not enough to need a nap after he was finished. He wanted plenty of energy to race that day, not be weighed down by undigested food.

 _I remember, bud,_ she responded easily, even as she kept her attention on her dad. There was something he wasn't saying, or hadn't worked up the nerve for, and she was getting a little nervous herself at what it might be. "What's on your mind, Dad?"

"Hiccup, we need to talk."

* * *

 **AN:** Sorry it's short. Just wanted to kind of whet the appetite for now. More to come later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Seriously, I don't own it. I'm used to it. . . really.

 **AN:** Just a quick warning, everyone. Updates will be slow, as I'm suffering from some writer's block. I'm hoping to get the logjam undone, but it may take more time than any of us are comfortable with. See you guys next chapter!

* * *

The speed of their flight bent the water below them as they soared over the water. Hiccup was stretched full-length along his back to reduce their drag, clutching the handles to keep her in place. Even through her helmet, she could hear the familiar screeching of a speeding Night Fury. A group of Thunderdrums swam below them, and the pair flew over the backs of surfacing dragons. With a delighted chuckle, she sat up and settled into the saddle. A quick flick of the pedals had them doing a barrel roll under a raised wing. With a whoop, she and Toothless headed straight up, looping and diving with abandon, before heading back up, corkscrewing once they reached the clouds. The exhilaration and simple happiness of being together flowed between them as they ascended higher and higher, the dizzying sensation of spinning only making things that much better.

Toothless let out a happy groan as he let them fall, letting gravity pull them down for a bit before flipping over. A click from the tailfin and a quick shift in weight on his back and they were soaring, dodging unseen obstacles. He took them through a wide roll and he felt Hiccup let go and hold on with only her legs as she stretched her arms out to the side, feeling utterly weightless. As they leveled out, they spotted a small flight of Timberjacks above them, flying for the pure joy of it much as the pair below them.

The squeak of the handles Hiccup had installed on the saddle warned him that she was up to something. "What do you say, bud?" she asked, leaning forward to put a hand on his neck. "You ready to give this another shot?"

 _Not after what happened last time,_ he told her with a snort and shake of his whole body at the reminder. If they hadn't been over open water at the time, his fragile nest-mate would probably have lost her life. This latest invention of hers was going to make him eat an eel on purpose one of these days, he just knew it. It was the only way he'd keep his sanity if she kept insisting on doing this.

"Toothless," she somehow both scolded and soothed at the same time, a talent he wasn't aware she'd picked up and he closed his eyes briefly in resignation. He was going to let her do this, but he could only hope that she was ready for the consequences that might occur. "It'll be fine."

 _Whatever you say, Hiccup,_ he groused, steeling himself for the coming test. They were high enough that she'd have plenty of room to glide and he would be close if anything happened. He felt the tailfin lock and heard the loops she used to keep herself tethered to him come loose. She shook herself, probably to get rid of the nerves he could feel through the bond. He did the same just as she leaned to her right and allowed herself to fall.

Keeping her arms down at her sides, she kept herself relaxed, allowing gravity to do all the work. Behind her, Toothless tucked his wings back and dove after her. Within moments, they were face to face and gently circling each other. She couldn't hold back the excited whoop when he grinned at her, his tongue hanging from one side of his mouth. A subtle shift had them both facing the ground so very far below, and Hiccup counted down in her head, waiting for the exact moment. Hauling up her legs and thrusting her arms through the loops on her sides, she took a deep breath and flung her arms out to the sides as she straightened her legs again.

The leather flaps that had been rolled up in pockets on her legs flared open, catching the wind with a jerk. Barely a heartbeat later, Toothless opened his wings and settled behind her. This time, she kept her body taut and glided almost as smoothly as Toothless. She quickly hit a small device on her left side, activating a dorsal fin that smoothed her flight considerably. A glance over her shoulder showed Toothless' concerned but curious gaze. He still wasn't used to seeing a human fly without a dragon, but he knew if anyone could, it would be his Hiccup.

The pair soared, gravity pulling them down but their sheer joy at flying together making them feel completely weightless. As they drifted down, Toothless fired a plasma bolt under Hiccup. It detonated in front of her and lifted her like an updraft. Hearing her happy cry at the sudden lift, he did it again, then a third time just to make her laugh. "This is amazing!" she shouted back to him, glancing over her shoulder at him. Suddenly, the clouds thinned ahead and revealed a large tower of rock. "No longer amazing. Toothless!" Behind her, Toothless growled and flapped hard, trying to catch up to her.

 _I'm coming, Hiccup!_

"Oh, no!" Hiccup could see herself coming to a sudden, rather messy end on those rocks and couldn't seem to steer away from them. "Oh, gods!" A fire blast came from behind and suddenly her world went dark as Toothless wrapped her in his wings and clutched her close to his body. The pair tumbled, neither knowing which way was up as they rolled across uneven ground before finally coming to a stop. Toothless relaxed and opened his wings, letting her sit up and adjust her prosthetic from flight to walking. His ingenious human came up with the design about a year after she'd gotten used to the first one. It simply hadn't been practical with the uneven ground around the village. The drifts of snow and patches of ice that lingered for weeks before finally melting had made walking dangerous, and Toothless would rather not think about how many accidents could have been averted if she'd had the one she used now instead of the other one. "That really came out of nowhere," she said as she got to her feet, pushing the loops free and reattaching them to their places on her legs.

They both turned back to look at the tower when a sharp retort of breaking rock caught their attention. Neither could stop the instinctive wince that often followed causing havoc in the village as the tower collapsed into the sea. "We've got to work on your solo gliding, there, bud," she went on as she rolled the leather flaps back into their pockets before reaching for the device just under her ribs on her left side. Giving it a few turns, she waited for the light click that would tell her that the dorsal fin was back in place. "That locked up tail makes for some pretty sloppy rescue maneuvers, yeah?"

 _That's not my fault!_ Toothless griped as she took off her helmet, specially designed naturally, and settled her hair around her face. She ignored his grumbles as she looked out over where they'd landed. Golden trees and cliffs of various heights spread to the snow-capped mountains in the distance, the afternoon sun setting the forest below them ablaze. In their travels, she'd never seen this one before and couldn't wait to add it to their growing map. She and Toothless spent as much time as possible scouting out new lands, hoping to find dragons no one had ever seen before, each hoping that each one would bring them one step closer to finding more Night Furies. Toothless only had vague memories of what his home looked like, and it wasn't much to go on, but the pair kept looking.

"Looks like we found another one, bud." A pebble hit her in the back of the head, and she raised a hand to it with a shocked "ouch!" before turning to face her nest-mate. He turned his back on her with an irritated huff, shooting her reproving glances over his shoulder. "Oh, do you want an apology?" He grumbled, but didn't answer. "Is that why you're pouting, big baby boo?"

 _I'm not pouting,_ he complained, still not looking at her. She tossed her helmet aside and locked her arms around his neck.

"Well, try this on!" She hugged him, attempting to shove him back but he held steady against her weaker strength. "You feeling it, yet? Picking up on my heartfelt remorse?" She even went so far as to wrap her legs around him too, trying to get him to react. Hiccup didn't expect him to stand up on his hind legs and waddle to the edge of the cliff. "Come on, you wouldn't hurt a one-legged-?" She cut herself off with a shriek when she realized she was dangling over the cliff and clutched Toothless tighter even as he laughed at her. "You're right, you're right, you win!" Toothless fell backward, staying under her so she didn't get hurt on the rocks, and then turning so she ended up under him. "Oh, and she's down!" Hiccup laughed as she tried to shove him off. "And it's ugly!" They playfully batted at each other, each letting the relief of knowing the other was safe to wash over them. "Dragons and Vikings, enemies again. Locked in combat to the bitter-" Toothless went limp and collapsed on her, driving the air from her lungs with a groan.

 _Got you!_ He started licking her face and she sputtered, trying to shove him away, knowing she was going to need a bath once they got home to get rid of all his saliva.

"You know that doesn't wash out!" she griped as she rolled out from under him and to her feet, swiping her hands down her flight suit. He laughed and she flicked her hands at him, shooting him a smug grin when the saliva flew off and caught him in the face. As he worked on getting it off, she took the map they'd been working on out from under the leather strapped across her chest and spread it out on the ground. The first paper hadn't been big enough to hold everything, so they'd added bits and pieces where needed to make it work. She promised herself that one day she'd do something to make it look better. For right now, this worked as she could take it anywhere she went, unlike the larger papers usually used for maps. As it stood, this island's position required another sheet of paper be added to the map, so she drew a sheet out of another compartment on her right arm, had Toothless give it a quick lick so it would stick- who knew Night Fury saliva made a great glue in a pinch?- and drew out her charcoal stick to draw the borders she'd already seen from the air.

After giving her stick a quick sharpening with the small dagger she had strapped to her left forearm and a quick check of her compass, she turned to Toothless. "So, what should we name it?" He bent and started grooming under his front leg. "Itchy Armpit it is." She set charcoal to paper and started drawing. "What do you reckon, bud? Think we might find a few Timberjacks in those woods? The odd Whispering Death or two in the rocks?" She looked up with a slightly hopeful, but fairly nervous look on her face, and tried to shrug casually. "Who knows? Maybe we'll finally track down another Night Fury."

 _Maybe,_ Toothless said, not really believing there were any here. He didn't smell any of his own species, new scents or old ones, so he didn't hold out much hope. His nest-mate, though, held out the fading hope that there were more out there . . .somewhere. They'd been looking pretty much since they'd both recovered from facing the Red Death, but so far had had no luck.

"Wouldn't that be something?" She sat back on her heel, trying not to let the idea that he might just be the last of his kind get her down too much, and heaved a sigh. "What do say, bud? Just keep going?"

 _It_ would _be nice, my Hiccup,_ he conceded, giving a curious croon at all the unexplored territory out there, but they both had responsibilities back on Berk. A bird-like screech got their attention and they both looked over their shoulders at the pair making their way to them.

 _Hey, Hiccup!_ Stormfly called as she came in for a landing, squawking as she settled. Toothless bounded over to the newly arrived pair like a playful puppy, eager to greet his friend.

"Afternoon, milord,"Hiccup greeted Anstred as he swung down from Stormfly. _Good to see you, Stormfly._ "Where have you been?"

"Oh," Anstred started, trying and failing to sound casual as he pushed his hood back off his head. He greeted Toothless with a friendly stroke under his chin, making him grin, as he passed by. The two dragons started some complicated greeting ritual that neither cared to explain but made them extremely happy. "Winning races, what else?" He walked over to Hiccup, ignoring the pair behind him. "The real question is, where have _you_ been?"

"Avoiding my dad," she replied, more than a little exasperated with the situation at home.

"Oh, no," Anstred said, his voice completely flat as he settled on the ground beside his girlfriend. "What happened now?" It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for him to have to track Hiccup down after some kind of disagreement between her and her father, and it had become almost routine for him to act as a go-between to get them talking to each other again.

"You're going to love this," she replied, laughing a little when she turned to him. Anstred gestured to the charcoal stick and she handed it over without thinking about it. "I wake up. The sun is shining, Terrible Terrors are singing on the rooftops. I saunter down to breakfast, thinking all's right with the world." She got up and dropped her voice as much as she could. "'Hiccup, we need to talk.'" She held up her hand and opened her mouth to continue, but stopped in shock at what happened next.

"'Not now, Dad,'" Anstred interrupted, sending his voice into the upper register to impersonate Hiccup and shrugging his shoulders. "'I've got a whole day of goofing off to get started.'"

"First of all, I don't sound like that," she pointed out, trying not to laugh. "What is this character? And second, what is that thing you're doing with my shoulders?" Anstred smiled and shrugged like his arms weren't connected to his body for a second. Hiccup chuckled, but quickly sobered. "A truly flattering impersonation. Anyway, he says, 'You're the pride of Berk, my daughter, and I couldn't be prouder.'"

"'Aw, thanks, Dad, I'm pretty impressed with myself, too!'" Anstred gestured wildly with his hands as he spoke, making Hiccup giggle a little.

"When have I ever done that with my hands?"

"You just did!" Anstred pointed out with a laugh, waving his hand at her as she used almost the exact same gestures he did. Hiccup was too serious sometimes, and he was more than happy to act the fool, in private at least, just to hear her laugh. She came closer and crouched in front him, taking his hands in hers as he kept exaggerating Hiccup's usual quirks.

"This is serious," she told him, the look in her eyes proving it. Anstred let it drop and kept his eyes on her as she got back to her feet. "He says, 'You're all grown up now, and since no Chief could ask for a better successor, I've decided-'"

"To make you Chief," Anstred finished for her, jumping to his feet in shock. "Oh, my gods. Hiccup, that's amazing!" He gave the device on her a light punch, making the fin on her back pop out and laughing at her expression.

"You're going to wear out the spring coil," she complained as she turned it, getting it back where it belonged. "The calibration is very sensitive." Anstred nodded, trying hard not smile at her annoyed expression but she was just so cute. Neither noticed the dragons until they came running passed, knocking them both down. Anstred got to his feet and held his hand out as Hiccup rolled over and sat up. She took his hand and let him haul her to her feet. "So, this is what I'm dealing with."

"What did you tell him?" he asked as he helped Hiccup settle her flight suit over her shoulders.

"I didn't," she admitted, looking around to make sure the dragons weren't coming by again. Anstred sighed and bent to gather the map. "By the time he turned around, I was gone."

"Well, it's a lot of responsibility," Anstred pointed out, trying to look ahead to the future and not really noticing that Hiccup was looking more than a little depressed by the same prospects. "The map will have to wait, for sure." He handed Hiccup the map absently. "I'll need to fly Toothless since you'll be too busy, but-" Turning to face her now, he saw the dejected and worried look on her face.

"It's not me, Anstred," Hiccup said, the map forgotten in her hand for a moment. "All those speeches and planning and running the village. That's _his_ thing."

"I think you're missing the point." Anstred hoped that Hiccup could come to terms with this before it was thrust upon her in the worst way possible, and maybe if he pointed out the positives instead of the negatives, he could help her with that. "I mean, chief. What an honor. _I'd_ be pretty excited."

"I'm not like you." Hiccup sighed and tucked the map away. "You know _exactly_ who you are, you always have." She turned to the cliff, bending to pick up her discarded helmet. "I'm still looking. I know that I'm not my father, and I never met my mother, so what does that make me?" Hiccup sat down near the edge of the cliff, looking off into the distance as if the answer to her question was somewhere out there. Anstred sighed and sat down next to her.

"What you're searching for isn't out there, Hiccup," he said, twisting a strand of hair that had come loose from her braid around his fingers, "it's in here." He put a hand on her chest over her heart and gave it a pat. "Maybe you just don't see it, yet." Leaning in, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and pulled back with a disgusted groan. _Night Fury spit, yuck!_ He wiped his mouth, trying to get the taste off his lips.

"Maybe," Hiccup replied distractedly, slowly getting to her knees to get a better look at something in the distance, "but, you know, there _is_ something out there."

"Oh, Hiccup." Anstred shook his head, not seeing what she did until she took his chin in her hand and pointed out the dark column of smoke rising between the mountains.

"Let's go, bud," she called, the urgency in her voice bringing both Toothless and Stormfly running to them, ready to go. Quickly mounting their dragons, they headed out over the forest, the trees a golden blur under them. Before long, the trees were suddenly black and still smoking as if the fire that burned them had just gone out. They flew low to the ground to take in the devastation around them, weaving through what was left of the forest and stirring up ash in their wake.

Up ahead, the trees abruptly ended and quickly dodging around two columns of rock, they spotted an enormous formation of sea-green ice. They hovered for a minute to study it, seeing bits of wood sticking out of it at odd angles, telling them that whatever had done this was more than likely big and powerful, like nothing they'd ever seen before. Hiccup looked over her shoulder at Anstred, and he shook his head, urging her with his eyes that they should leave and come back later. Hiccup nodded in response, knowing that there might be people they could help, though she knew better than to just dive in without getting more information first. "Stay close," she urged, guiding Toothless closer to the strange ice.

They circled it, looking for any signs of what might have caused the destruction they were seeing and for signs of life. "What happened here?" Hiccup wondered aloud, asking Toothless the same, but he had no answer for her. He'd never seen anything like this, either. Two footprints became visible, the sheer size of them telling them that the dragon that had done this was massive, probably even larger than the Red Death. Toothless suddenly felt uneasy about this whole situation, and shook himself with a growl. "Easy, bud." Hiccup put a soothing hand on his neck and he settled, a little, but he remained wary, ready to take Hiccup back home at a moment's notice.

"Hiccup!" Anstred called, his voice soft but urgent as he pointed downward, toward the ice. Through a gap, he spotted something he hadn't seen in some time. Hiccup looked back up at him and missed the weapon that was pointed at them.

"Fire!" a voice shouted from below them. Toothless flapped quickly, throwing them backward and out of the line of fire, but Stormfly wasn't so lucky.

"Anstred, look out!" The net, much like the bola that had brought Toothless down, wrapped around Stormfly, pinning her wings and she began to fall, Anstred tossed from the saddle.

"Hiccup!" he shouted as he fell, spinning from the force of the impact of the net, only to be caught seconds later by Toothless. They circled quickly, looking for where Stormfly landed. The Vikings had her down, legs tied and another rope holding her mouth closed.

"Stop!" Hiccup hollered, directing Toothless to drop Anstred as close to the ground as they could so he could go to Stormfly's aid as they landed. They heard Anstred call her name as Hiccup dismounted, the gathered Vikings staring in shock at a saddled Night Fury. With a flick of her wrist, Hiccup had Inferno, the tube on her hip, in her hand and the 'blade' extended. The Monstrous Nightmare saliva it was coated with caught fire as soon as it touched the open air, making them ooh as she waved it around to keep their attention on her. Behind her, Toothless growled at seeing his friend pinned to the ground, and his nest-mate once again diving headfirst into trouble.

"What are you doing?" Anstred demanded, grabbing a piece of debris and brandishing it like a weapon. In his hands, it _was_ a weapon, and he'd do whatever it took to get Stormfly back, even take on these idiots single-handed if he had to.

"Back again?" the voice that had called for them to be fired upon asked in disbelief as he looked past Hiccup to see Toothless behind her. He was tall, broad shouldered with dark hair pulled back in a low tail. Five blue marks came down from his lower lip, the two on the outside the shortest, the middle one going straight down his chin, but it was his eyes that assured Hiccup that he wasn't as good looking on the inside as he was on the outside. A heavy brow shaded his dark brown eyes and he was unfortunately in possession of an overly large nose. His bearing, though, marked him as the leader of this particular band of Vikings. "Soil my britches." Hiccup noticed that he stood on Stormfly's head, keeping her down and proving just what kind of man he was. "That _is_ a Night Fury." He reached down and gave the man next to him a pat on the back with a slightly sinister grin. "Thought they were all gone for good. Looks like our luck has had a turn for the better, lads. Don't think Drago has one of _those_ in his dragon army."

"Dragon army?" Anstred wondered, glancing at Hiccup as if she had an answer, but she just waved her hand a little, needing him to relax a bit.

"Look, we don't want any trouble," she said, lowering Inferno slightly to prove it but not retracting the blade just yet. The leader chuckled, the sound sending a shiver down Hiccup's spine. Pure greed and arrogance radiated in it, making her worried for Toothless as she took a better stance in front of him.

"You should have thought of _that_ before you stole all of our dragons," he said, bending to grab Stormfly's horn and giving it a shake before gesturing to the ice behind him, "and blasting our fort to bits." The Vikings with him rumbled in agreement as they looked up to take in the destruction from this angle. Aside from the few weapons they had, it was obvious none of the buildings had survived the attack.

"What are you _talking_ about?" Anstred demanded, frustrated that he couldn't get to Stormfly and that they weren't getting answers they needed.

"You think _we_ did this?" Hiccup asked, shocked that they could think such a thing. They might not always get the warmest of welcomes in some of the places they went, but this was a new one for her.

"Dragon trapping is hard enough without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them."

"What do-gooder-" Hiccup began but stopped as what he said sank in. She retracted the blade on the sword and took a small step closer to the leader. "There are _other_ dragon riders?" She'd been sure that she was the first, but this news had the potential to be huge.

"You mean other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me." He kept his gaze locked on the trio in front of him as he went on. "You may have an ice spitting dragon on your side," he said, stepping off Stormfly, "but we still have a quota to fill. How do you expect we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?"

"Drago What-fist?" Hiccup asked, shaking her head a little in confusion. Nothing this guy was saying was adding up. It seemed they'd get an incomplete answer before he was off on a tangent about something else they knew nothing about. "Does anything you say make sense?"

"He's expecting a new shipment for his army, by tomorrow," one of the other Vikings put in, obviously interrupting, but the leader said nothing about it.

"And Drago don't take well to excuses," said another, making the leader nod. He reached for the top of his tunic and pulled it down, showing a dragon shaped scar drawn onto his chest just above his heart.

"This is what he gave me the last time we showed up empty handed," he told them as he let go of his tunic and covered the scar back up. "He promised to be far less understanding in the future."

"Look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief, or an ice spitting dragon, or your crazy, lunatic boss." Hiccup watched a sneer come and go across his face as she spoke, but pushed on anyway, not realizing it was a signal to the weapon behind them. Maybe there was a tiny speck of decency left in him, and if she could appeal to it and get them out without bloodshed, then she'd do it. "Just give us back _our_ dragon and we'll go. Strange, hostile person who we've never met."

"Where are my manners?" he asked, as if he'd forgotten that he hadn't introduced himself before. He bowed, one hand behind his back as the other gestured expansively in front of him. "I am Eret, son of Eret." The scrape of steel against leather was loud in the silence that had fallen, and he pointed a rather large dagger at them. "The finest dragon trapper alive." The Vikings behind him laughed in agreement with that statement. "After all, it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury."

 _You haven't caught me yet!_ Toothless growled in Hiccup's mind, roaring aloud and flaring his wings.

"And this is Toothless," Hiccup said, waving a hand at him. "He says we're going, _now._ "

"They all say that," Eret told her, a fake look of sympathy on his face before his expression hardened. "Rush them, lads." Hiccup and Anstred jumped out of the way when Toothless opened his mouth and sent a fire blast at a spear of ice above them, bringing it down. The attacking Vikings scattered, ducking for cover as it shattered. Running for Stormfly, Hiccup used her flaming 'sword' to quickly slice through the ropes holding her down as Anstred threw the net off her.

"Come on, Stormfly," he called as he and Hiccup started running for Toothless. "Go, go." With a running leap, both riders were mounted and winging their way away from the Vikings, dodging arrows from behind them as they went.

"You will _never_ hold on to those dragons, do you hear me?" Eret shouted, pointing his dagger at them. Hiccup looked over her shoulder at him as Toothless carried her away. "Drago is coming for them all!"

* * *

 **AN:** Whoo, that was fun, wasn't it? Sorry I'm not sorry about the cliffhanger.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own this. When I write my own dragon story, I'll never have to type this again.

* * *

The sun was starting to set as they reached Berk. Hiccup and Toothless could have made it back sooner, but they were unwilling to leave Stormfly and Anstred behind. Both Hiccup and Anstred apologized to Stormfly for getting her captured, but she told them not to worry about it, as it wasn't their fault. They had freed her, and everyone was unhurt so there was nothing to apologize for.

 _Besides, we have more important things to worry about, Hiccup,_ Toothless reminded her gently, feeling her thoughts and impressions buzzing through the bond. _Those trappers are part of something big, and we need to find out what._

"I know," she sighed, leaning back to watch the sky above them. "We will, but first, we should talk to Dad." He purred into her mind, soothing her chaotic thoughts and she patted his shoulder. "Thanks, bud." She sat up as the island came into view, guiding Toothless to the forge where she knew her dad would be at this particular time of day. He, Gobber and herself had started building custom saddles on top of everything else that went on there. Gobber's dragon, a rather lazy Hotburple named Grump, was always asleep somewhere near the smith and was often used to relight the forge if it went out. Hiccup was rather fond of him, even if he didn't do much. She'd even caught him falling asleep while flying and she wondered how he stayed in the air.

"Ah-ha, there she is!" she heard Stoick shout as they landed, raising a small cloud of dust as they settled to earth. "The pride of Berk!" Heaving an internal sigh at the newest title she'd picked up and making Toothless chuckle in her mind, she detached herself from the saddle and swung down to the ground. Taking a second to get used to being on the ground again and adjusting her prosthetic, she made her way to the forge after giving Toothless a quick pat.

"Who finally decided to show up for work," Gobber groused, swinging his hammer at her playfully. She smiled as she held up her arms and dodged the nonthreatening blows.

"Sorry, got held up," she replied with a light laugh, thinking just how true those words were. Hiccup ducked under a hanging basket to follow him. "Dad, can I have a word?"

"Something you're itching to tell me?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders and giving her a gentle shake before tossing his arm around her shoulders to lead her along.

"Not quite the itch you're thinking of," she answered, "but, yes."

"Good lass." He grabbed the leather apron she usually left hanging nearby and tossed it to her. She hung it back up absently, the motion so familiar that she didn't even think about it. "Now, lesson one. A chief's first duty is to their people." Reaching up, he pulled a small wooden tile with a number painted on it from one hook and put it on another. "So, forty-one!"

"Look, can we just talk in private?" Hiccup tried again, but it was fairly obvious that he wasn't listening again.

"Forty-"

"That's me!" a voice called out from the back of the crowd that was gathered. "I'm next!" Stoick turned and gave her a quick wink.

"If we could just talk-"

"Hey, I was ahead of you." The dark haired Viking that approached had horns almost wider than his shoulders on his helmet, and if Hiccup remembered correctly, a rather large Gronkle. "Ok, I want one of those high seaters, with lots of spikes and a big storage compartment."

"Absolutely," Stoick said as he stepped back, "you've got it, sir."

"Dad, this is a little more important than building saddles." Hiccup said, stifling a groan when he turned back to her again.

"Lesson two, no task is too small when it comes to serving your people," he replied in a sing-song voice as he led the way to the workbench. "Excuse us, Grump." He edged his way around the sleeping dragon, giving his nose a rub as he passed by.

"Could we just talk-"

"Grump, you let the forge die down again!" Gobber hollered, cutting her off. With a pair of mighty heaves, Grump got himself facing the right direction and sent a blast of fire at the cold forge, not noticing or caring that the blast was too large and set most of the forge ablaze and shooting sparks everywhere, before going right back to sleep as if he'd never woken up. Heaving a sigh and pulling on the rope attached to a pipe overhead, Gobber doused the blaze and shook a finger at his sleeping partner. "That's it, Grump. You're going up for adoption." Despite his complaints, Hiccup knew that Grump wasn't going anywhere.

"These?" Stoick asked, holding up a pair of tongs and she nodded absently. He dropped them in a box on the bench and added a hammer.

"Dad," she started as he put a couple more tools in the box before pushing it at her.

"Go on," he urged, waving a hand at the tools still waiting to be used. "Have a way."

"But seriously, I _really_ need to tell you about this new land we came across," she said, picking up the tools that had been knocked to the floor and adding a few more from the bench without thought. Maybe if she talked while they worked, she could explain what happened.

"Another one?" Gobber asked, coming toward them to hear for himself. He pulled the hammer off his prosthetic arm and dropped it on the floor.

"Any new dragons?" Fishlegs demanded excitedly, always ready to hear more about new dragons that could be added to those they already knew.

"We didn't stick around to find out," she admitted, sorry that she had to disappoint her friend, but there were more important things she needed to tell them. "These folks weren't particularly friendly."

"Oh, really? Your Night Fury and Deadly Nadder didn't bring them cheering to the rooftops?" Gobber spun the belt that held his attachments until he found the an empty spot for his hammer.

"No, this was different." She reached up and drew the outline of the saddle on the leather Stoick draped over the dummy they'd fashioned. It could be adjusted to any size, making fitting any type of dragon much easier. "This wasn't the standard 'run for the hills' hoo-ha I've come to enjoy. These guys were trappers. Dragon trappers."

"You should have seen their fort," Anstred put in, almost sounding excited now that they were home and he'd had some time to think about it. "All blown apart and stuck in giant spikes of ice. It was weird."

"I've never seen anything like it," Hiccup went on, steadying herself against the dummy as she turned to look over her shoulder at Stoick. "And worst of all, they think _we_ did it."

"You two are going to get in serious trouble one of these days," Gobber commented, spinning the belt again until he found the brush. Setting it in place, he combed his mustache before moving on to his eyebrows. "Not everyone appreciates this way of life."

"Gobber's right, dear," Stoick said, pulling the leather down from the dummy. "Best we keep to our own. Besides, you'll have more important uses for your time, huh?" He spread it on the table in front of the saw and pulled the lever to activate it before rubbing his hands together. "Once we make the big announcement." Fed up, Hiccup pulled the lever again, stopping the saw.

"They are building a dragon army," she told him, ignoring the fact that the people watching gasped in shock. "Or-or the guy they work for is. Dargo Bloody-fist or something." Stoick froze, his face blank, before turning to look at Gobber who looked almost as shocked as Stoick. Something passed between the two men, something Hiccup had never seen before.

"I'll bloody his fist with my face if he tries to take my dragon!" Tuffnut shouted, popping his head over Gobber's shoulder.

"Or mine!" Ruffnut added, making her twin groan.

"You're such a moron."

"A _beautiful_ moron," Fishlegs said, a loving look on his face.

"Yeah," Snotlout added, making Ruffnut cringe and shudder, trying to get away from both of them. Hiccup wondered briefly how long that had been going on, but realized she didn't really want to know. Stoick put both hands on her shoulders and reclaimed her attention.

"Bludvist?" he demanded, the serious look on his face keeping Hiccup from looking away. "Drago Bludvist?"

"Yeah. Wait." Curiosity reared it's head, making her ask, "You know him?" His face hardened, eyes glinting with determination and he ran out of the forge, shouting orders that had everyone scrambling to obey. She followed, desperate to know what was happening, but he ignored her questions as he set about locking the village down like there was a blizzard headed their way.

"Ground all dragons!" he shouted, making his way down the stairs through the stables. Custom built to house the dragons, there was a section for every type, giving each what they needed to be safe and happy. Each section had a feeding station, helping the dragons keep fed when grounded during the nastier weather that often hit the island during the winter months.

"What's happening?"

"Seal the gates! Lower the storm doors!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Why?" Levers were flipped and pulleys activated, lowering the enormous doors that protected the dragons from inclement weather, as the dragons made their way to their sections.

"You heard the man!" Gobber hollered from behind them, keeping up despite his own peg leg. "Lock it down!"

"No dragon or Viking is to set foot off this island until I give the word!"

"Wait, because some guy you knew is stirring up trouble in some far away land?" Hiccup asked, confused as to what had her dad so on edge. Not even the dragon war had done this, and she was stunned that one little piece of news had him jumping at shadows. It wasn't the ice spitting dragon that had caught his attention, it was the man that had done something she once would have thought impossible.

"Because Drago Bludvist is a madman," he explained, turning to face her and putting a hand on her shoulder, "without conscience or mercy. And if he's built a dragon army, gods help us all." He turned and waved to the men scattered around them. "Get them into the pens."

"Aye, Stoick."

"Quickly!"

"Let's ride back out there," Hiccup said calmly, trying to settle both herself and Stoick down a little so they could think clearly. "We'll follow those trappers to Drago, and talk some sense into him."

"No, we fortify the island," Stoick replied firmly, not in the mood to deal with Hiccup's wild ideas right now. There was more at stake here than she knew, and he needed her to help see to the dragons for now. He promised himself that he'd explain later.

"It's our duty to keep the peace!"

"Peace is over, Hiccup." He gestured to the preparations already being made around them. "I must prepare you for war."

"War?" Stunned at first, Hiccup could do nothing but gape at him, but a quick nudge from Toothless had her opening her mouth again. "Dad, if Drago's coming for our dragons, we can't wait around for him to get here. Let's go find him, and change his mind."

"Some minds won't be changed, Hiccup." He saw the irony in that statement almost as soon as he made it, as he hadn't been sure about allowing dragons into the village before, but after many talks with Hiccup and the other teens, he saw just how useful they could be. His point stood, though, as Drago wasn't completely sane. "Berk is what you need to worry about. A chief protects their own." He stalked away to continue giving orders and making plans to keep Berk safe for the foreseeable future.

 _What do you want to do, Hiccup?_ Toothless asked, his expression curious but leaving the final decision up to her. He wasn't too sure about this Drago person and if just the mention of his name sent Stoick into a panic, he was more than willing to avoid him, but if Hiccup wanted to go, he would go with her. Something about this whole situation, though, was making his scales itch, and that was a sure sign of trouble as far as he was concerned.

For herself, Hiccup wanted to keep the peace, but she couldn't do that without knowing who Drago was, why he wanted to take over and capture so many dragons and how he was doing it in the first place. Nothing was making sense, and she needed answers that her father wasn't giving her. _We're going, bud,_ she told him, and he crouched to allow her to get on more quickly.

"Hiccup, don't," Anstred objected firmly but quietly, not wanting to let Stoick know what she was up to.

"I have to," she answered, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and mounting Toothless.

"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted as she and Toothless flew over him, exasperated that she was defying him again. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, and he didn't have the time to chase her down just now. The pair barely made it under the storm door that was closing in front of them. "Hiccup!" Anstred and Stormfly followed, making him growl in frustrated anger at them. Those two always rushed headfirst into trouble, and he wasn't going to allow them to do it alone, not against Drago. He ordered two men to find the other teens, and directed Gobber to get Grump while he found Skullcrusher. They were going after them once everything else had been seen to.

* * *

 _Do you have a plan, Hiccup?_ Toothless wondered as they flew, hoping to catch the trappers before they got too far ahead. They were over the ocean, searching the area around the destroyed fort for signs of their passage. Hiccup was more worried about what her father was going to say about this latest stunt and hadn't put much thought into what she was going to do when she found them.

 _Maybe I'll just improvise,_ she replied with a shrug, making Toothless groan in frustration inside her head.

 _That's not going to work,_ he reminded her, giving her quick flashes of other times she'd 'improvised' and wound up getting them both into deeper trouble than before. _We need a plan._

 _Working on it._ Heaving a sigh, she tried to do just that, but at that particular moment, the ship came into view. They both heard the order to bring them down, nets and arrows being fired their way. Dodging almost lazily out of the way, the four of them landed on the deck of the ship.

"And here I was worried we'd turn up empty handed," Eret said with a snarky grin as he approached, dagger drawn like he was expecting trouble.

"Nope, it's your lucky day," Hiccup replied evenly as she stood in the saddle a bit. Tossing a quick glance over her shoulder, she motioned for Anstred to lower his ax, before lifting both hands over her head. "We give up." The look on Eret's face was absolutely priceless as his jaw dropped and one of his eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. As his dagger slowly dropped, Hiccup dismounted with a small smile. "That's one Night Fury," she said, giving Toothless' head a rub as she stepped away, "one Deadly Nadder." Bending down, she grabbed a net that had yet to be re-rolled so it could be used again and tossed it over Anstred's head making him grunt at the weight of it. "And two of the finest dragon riders west of Luk Tuk." Taking Anstred's arm in one hand, she grabbed his ax out of his with other and practically tossed it to Eret as she made her way passed. "That ought to keep the boss happy, right?" She heard Toothless growl at Eret, warning him not to try anything stupid, as she pushed a mace out of her way. "Excuse us."

"What are you doing?" Anstred demanded in a whisper as he stepped into the hold below the deck. Hiccup joined him, the grating lowering over their heads.

"Toothless, stay," she said as he attempted to follow her. He gave a curious sounding croon as the grate shut over his nest-mate, knowing that though he could smell dragons in there, the scents were old so the two were safe enough for now. "The dragons don't really care for cramped spaces, so they're going to hang out with you. They won't cause any trouble." She heard weapons being unsheathed and poked her head up through a hole to see Toothless jump like a startled cat before he dropped into a crouch, growling at the group. "Unless you do that. You know, wooden boat, big ocean. Ho-how is your swimming?"

"Not good," one of them sighed, fingering his weapon. Eret rolled his eyes to the sky, wondering just which of the Gods was having a laugh at his expense, because surely only Loki would have him cross paths with this slip of a girl who constantly showed him up and had somehow wrested control of the situation away from him. Suddenly, Hiccup's flaming sword popped up through the feeding hole quickly followed by the top half of her.

"Oops, I almost forgot," she said, giving herself a light bonk on the forehead as she retracted the blade before handing it over. "You can't have armed prisoners."

"How is this a plan?" Anstred asked quietly, looking up at her but she motioned him to be quiet once more.

"Just what every dragon trapper needs," she went on, almost feeling absurdly proud of her work. "One end coats the blade in Monstrous Nightmare saliva," the Viking that held her weapon found the button and a greenish yellow gas began filling the air, "the other sprays Hideous Zippleback gas. All you need is a spark-" She had been dropping back down slowly, still explaining, then pulled her head down just as the gas caught fire, a small boom rocking the boat. "Oh, yeah. There you go." Poking her head back up, she spotted the guy holding her sword looking stunned and more than a little singed. "Once they see you as one of their own, even the testiest dragons can be trained." She spotted Toothless playing with a burning ember, much like a cat batting a butterfly. "Right, bud?"

"Give me that," Eret growled, yanking the sword away from his stunned crew member and tossing it over the side with a grunt of effort. He didn't notice Stormfly taking off after it. "What game are you playing?"

"No game," Hiccup assured him, grinning to herself when she saw Stormfly return and drop Inferno at Eret's feet. He picked it up and threw it again, this time over the other side. Stormfly took off, happy to have someone to play with. "We just want to meet Drago."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to change his mind about dragons," Hiccup said seriously, one hand clenched into a fist to keep herself from laughing when Stormfly came back, once again dropping her sword onto the deck. Eret and his men laughed at her statement while Stormfly nudged the sword closer to Eret, hoping he'd throw it again while he looked shocked.

"She can be really persuasive," Anstred added, popping up beside Hiccup with a small smile. He was starting to see where Hiccup was going with all of this, and could only hope that it would work, so he felt comfortable adding his own opinion. Toothless put his head over her shoulder, giving her a gentle nudge.

"Once you've earned his loyalty," she said, putting one arm around his neck and giving his head a rub with the other, "there's nothing a dragon won't do for you."

"You won't be changing any minds around here," Eret warned, ignoring the fact that Stormfly had grabbed the sword and was nudging his men, hoping one of them would toss it so she could chase it again.

"I can change _yours_ ," Hiccup assured him, reaching for the lever on the saddle that locked the tailfin in place. "Right here, right now." Climbing up through the hatch, she gestured to the saddle. "May I?" Before Eret could reply, Hiccup was snatched off the deck. From behind and below, she heard Toothless roar his displeasure at her sudden departure. The ship listed as something slashed one of the sails, tossing the Vikings around quickly before the boat settled once more.

"Dragon riders!" Eret shouted, reminding his men that they had a quota to fill and there were dragons ready for the taking.

 _Give back my Hiccup!_ Toothless hollered, climbing sails and rigging to reach the mast, only to stop with a confused look when he saw who had her.

"Put me down!" Hiccup demanded, glaring up at her cousin and giving Hookfang a stern "now isn't the time for this!" while she was at it. "Snotlout, what are you doing?"

"See how well I protect and provide?" he asked Ruffnut, making her shudder and groan. Hiccup watched as the twins dodged nets fired at them only to suddenly spot Ruffnut giving the ship a look she'd never seen before and opening her arms like the net coming for her was going to give her a hug or something. Swinging her legs up, she pushed at Hookfang's belly with a firm "let go!", dropping like a stone when the Nightmare opened her claws. A quick flip and snap of her arms and she was gliding back down to the boat, quickly shifting to one side to avoid a net shot in her direction.

Using a rope and the edge of a sail, she slid back down to the deck, landing with barely a bump. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to rescue you!" Gobber informed her, Grump dropping to the deck only to immediately fall asleep as usual.

"I don't need to be rescued," she shot back as Toothless came down behind her. She quickly stowed the wing flaps as she tried to think of a way out of this newest mess.

"ENOUGH!" Skullcrusher landed with a thud, shaking the small boat. Stoick dismounted and stalked toward her. Eret took in the hulking brute that had just landed on his ship.

"Well, didn't you just pick the wrong ship, eh?" he said, stepping forward with his usual swagger, but Stoick was having none of it. "I am Eret, son of-" He was cut off by Stoick putting his hand over his face and shoving him backward. Gobber lifted his arm and dropped the mace attached to his arm onto Eret's head, knocking him to the deck. To make sure he stayed there, Grump shifted just enough to pin him without crushing him. "Get this . . . thing off me!" he wheezed out, trying to wiggle out from under Grump but he was stuck.

"Anyone else?" Gobber asked, looking over his shoulder at the crew that had been nicely rounded up by the other teens, kept in place by their dragons. They shook their heads, knowing they were outnumbered. "That's what I figured."

"You," Stoick said, glaring at Hiccup for a moment. "Saddle up. We're going home."

"No."

"Of all the irresponsible-"

"I'm trying to protect our dragons and stop a war," Hiccup defended herself, meeting her father glare for glare at this point. "How is that irresponsible?"

"Because war is what he wants, Daughter!" he hollered back, heaving a sigh when Hiccup stepped back a bit, a confused look on her face. He reminded himself that she didn't know the history between himself and Drago, and unless he told her, she probably never would. While Gobber knew some of the details, he didn't know them all. "Years ago, there was a great gathering of chieftains to discuss the dragon scourge we all faced. Into our midst came a stranger from a strange land, covered in scars and draped in a cloak of dragon skin. He carried no weapon and spoke softly, saying that he, Drago Bludvist, was a man of the people, devoted to freeing mankind from the tyranny of dragons. He claimed that he alone could control the dragons and he alone could keep us safe, if we chose to bow down and follow him." The other teens laughed, but Hiccup noticed that Eret and his crew didn't: either they knew the story, or they just knew the man enough to know that he meant what he said.

"Aye, we laughed, too," Stoick admitted, looking down at the deck for a moment before meeting Hiccup's eyes again. "Until he wrapped himself in his cloak and cried out, "Then see how well you do without me!". The rooftop suddenly burst into flames, and from it, armored dragons descended, burning the hall to the ground. I… was the only one to escape." No one laughed now, all disturbed at hearing Stoick so subdued. "Men who kill without reason, cannot be reasoned with."

"Maybe."

"Hiccup-"

"I'm still going to try," Hiccup declared softly, wanting to let her dad know that she wasn't backing down from this, but not trying to openly challenge him either. She knew better now what she might be up against and she felt she still had to try. "If I can change _your_ mind, I can change his. Come on." With that she jumped on Toothless, and they took off, quickly leaving the little boat far behind.

"Let's go," Anstred whispered to Stormfly, only to be stopped by Stoick.

"NO!" He pinned Anstred with his gaze when he opened his mouth to object, but he wasn't in the mood. "Lead the others back to Berk. I've had enough mutiny for one day." He stalked passed a still pinned Eret who watched him with a bored expression, while seemingly desperately ignoring Ruffnut's attentions. "Ruffnut!"

"Ugh, OK!" she shouted back, obviously annoyed at having to leave her new love behind. Eret was only too happy to see her leave, especially after she kissed her fingers then pressed her fingers to his lips.


	4. Chapter 4

In silence, the pair flew above clouds painted orange from the setting sun. Hiccup's head buzzed with thoughts, her father's and Eret's words echoing through them with all the frantic activity of a beehive defending itself. Not even Toothless could help her settle them enough for her to think. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a scream, clenching her teeth and falling backward to lay along Toothless' back. She had felt him wince at her volume, but he purred when he felt her pat his shoulder as well as the racing of her thoughts settle a bit. "Don't worry, bud," she told him quietly, crossing her hands across her stomach. "I'm not going to let anything to happen to you. I promise."

 _I know, my Hiccup,_ he replied, his ears twitching at a low, rumbling growl that seemed to come from underneath them. He looked down and to his right, watching what looked like a staff come up through the clouds, followed by what looked like a person. _Hiccup, we've got company._

"Oh, come on, Dad," she griped as she sat up, not yet seeing the person. "Really?!" She jolted in shock: whoever this was, it wasn't her dad, and seemed to be floating in air. A spiked helmet with thin slits for eyes and odd looking armor in shades of green and red, a shield clutched in one hand while a staff was in the other, the figure was taller than Hiccup by at least a head. "Ok. No sudden moves," she cautioned Toothless, leaning forward to get a better grip on the saddle as the figure moved away and descended back into the clouds. Suddenly, an enormous grey, brown and green dragon roared as it shot up in front of them, the figure standing in front of the wings like it was standing on solid ground. Toothless hovered, using his wings to try and clear their field of vision, while Hiccup watched the dragon circle them. As the dragon came around in front of them again, the figure pointed the staff at them, but Hiccup didn't take her eyes off them.

She was stunned at evidence of another rider. Even though Eret had made mention of it, here was the definitive proof that someone outside Berk had done as she had. None of the places she'd gone with Toothless had done so, even after they'd been there, and she'd been sure that she was the first.

Only after the dragon came back in front of them, hovering much like they were, that she recognized a Stormcutter. It's wings spread, revealing that it had four instead of the usual two that she was used to. She'd rarely seen Stormcutters before, but this particular one was new to her. It tilted it's head, seeming to be as curious about them as they were, but Toothless growled, eyes narrowed, sensing something more was going to happen. As the downdrafts from their wings cleared the clouds, more dragons were revealed below them, but before they could get a better look, there was a loud growl from behind them. Toothless turned, but not quick enough as Hiccup was snatched off his back.

She cried his name as he fell, reaching for him uselessly. He roared back, but without her to work the fin, he was going down. The impact with the ice below was almost as bad as the sudden shock of freezing water underneath, but he didn't let that stop him. He got himself facing the right direction and flung himself out of the water, his tail as useless as ever. Toothless tried again only to sink once more, but his determination to reach Hiccup sent him up once more. The cold was invading his body, though, so he clung to the broken pieces of ice in front of him. Moaning mournfully, he watched as his Hiccup was carried further and further away from him. So focused on her, he missed the dragons coming up from under him. Too cold to move much, he was dragged under the water.

Gripped securely in the claws of the dragon that had dragged her from Toothless, Hiccup raged at the figure that seemed to leading them somewhere. "Hey! You left my dragon back there!" she shouted, trying to get some sort of reaction. "He can't fly on his own. He'll drown!" Nothing, not a twitch or even a gesture for the one carrying her or one of the ones following them to turn back. She narrowed her eyes against the wind, hoping to see a landmark so she'd know where she was, but there was nothing familiar. They passed under an arch of ice and ahead she spotted a large formation of green ice, the same color as the ice that had blasted Eret's forts to pieces. Almost before she knew it, they'd passed under it into some tunnels, the dragon carrying her making sure she didn't scrape the ground or the sides as it weaved its way through. They quickly came to a clear spot and the dragon dropped just enough so that when it released Hiccup, she landed with a grunt and tumbled a bit. It was dark, but she could make out large forms moving in the shadows, low growls making her shiver a bit.

"Hey!" she called, turning to see if she could find the person that brought her here. "We have to go back for my dragon!" One of the dragons drew closer to her, growling deep in its chest. She backed away slowly, drawing Inferno from her side and extending the blade. It quickly caught fire and she circled it over her head, keeping the dragon focused on the fire, before holding it to one side then the other. It followed the flames, pupils relaxing as she stepped back again. Other dragons stepped toward her, reminding her that there were an awful lot of them in here, perhaps even more than the whole of Berk. With a quick flick, she had the blade stored away and the tiny, empty canister of gas was ejected. Crouching, she replaced it with a full one and pressed the button, causing the gas to come out. With a slow spin, she encircled herself with the gas and lit it, hiding her eyes from the bright flare. Getting to her feet, she hooked Inferno back to her hip and approached the dragon in front of her calmly, one hand out. Before she could touch it, though, a sound behind her made her turn.

The figure had dropped into the circle of dragons, shield and staff held ready should Hiccup make any threatening moves. Hiccup had no intention of doing that, at least not yet, but she would if it became necessary. "Who are you?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. No response. "The dragon thief?" Still nothing. "Drago Bludvist?" Once again, no answer. "Do you even understand what I'm saying?" The figure swung the staff around, making an odd noise with it, before slamming it to the ground. Behind and above it, another dragon appeared, carrying a limp Toothless in its grip. "Toothless!" she cried, running for him as soon as he was safely on the ground.

 _Hiccup?_

"It's OK," she murmured, running her hands over him to check for injuries.

 _Glad you're OK._

"I'm glad to see you, too, bud," she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck to give him a hug. "You really had me worried there." Toothless gave her a lick and nudge, and this time she didn't say anything about the dragon spit. She didn't see the figure tilt its head, watching the reunion with curious eyes, too caught up in making sure that Toothless was all right. A quick shake of the staff caused the dragon nearest to open its mouth, a flame held there to light the area. The other dragons followed suit, and as it grew brighter, Hiccup looked up to see the figure approaching. Toothless noticed too, and kept Hiccup close to his side, wrapping his tail around her to make sure she stayed there. Crouched low, he lifted his wings a bit as he backed away, a threatening growl vibrating his chest.

A clatter sounded in the cavern as the figure dropped both staff and shield to approach them, crouched low and moving almost like a dragon. As the distance closed, one hand went up, catching Toothless' attention. He growled, then groaned as with a funny gesture, he collapsed onto his back, one leg kicking lightly. Hiccup kept backing up as the figure approached, watching as a hand stroked down Toothless from his chin to his front leg. Uncomfortable with how close the hand was to her face, she turned it away, but kept her eyes on it. Suddenly, the figure flinched and backed away.

"Hiccup?" The voice was muffled by the helmet, but it sounded like a woman. Hands slowly lifted the helmet off, revealing a face that Hiccup could just somehow sense was familiar. Eyes as green as her own stared with wonder, confusion and shock from under brows almost as red as her hair. "Could it be?" She stood slowly, letting her helmet fall to one side as she stepped forward. "After all these years? How is this possible?"

"Um, should I," Hiccup started, not sure how to react to this, "should I know you?"

"No," the woman sighed, "you were only a babe." She looked away for a moment before turning back to face her. "But a mother never forgets." Hiccup gasped, shocked and stunned, but before she could fire any of the thousand questions that were buzzing in her mind, the woman smiled and beckoned for her to follow her. "Come!" She darted away just as Toothless rolled back over with an annoyed growl. Hiccup, after making sure that Toothless was following, darted after her.

"Hold on!" she shouted as the figure of her mother kept getting further away. "Just wait a minute!"

"This way!"

"Come back here!"

"Come."

"You can't just say something like that, and run off," she said, still working through her shock. This day just kept getting better and better. "You're my _mother_? I mean, what the- Do you grasp how _insane_ that sounds?" She ducked under some rocks, twisting and turning through the tunnel as she followed the voice of her mother.

"Come," she urged, going up and into a shaft of light. "Quickly."

"I have questions!" Hiccup tried to follow her up, but slid back. She tried again, but again went nowhere. Toothless put his head under her rear and gave her a push up. "Where have you been all this time?" she grunted as she rolled over the top of the rock she'd been trying to climb, giving Toothless a quick thanks for his help. "What have you been doing? They said you were _dead_! Everyone thought you'd been eaten by-" Hiccup fell silent as she reached the very center of the enormous nest, blinded at first by the light, then stunned when she saw all the dragons, roosting or flying through the area, more than she'd ever seen before. Baby Gronkles played nearby, making her smile a little.

Tall spires of ice and rock filled the area, more than large enough to hold the entire village and their dragons with room to spare. For being so deep in the ice, Hiccup almost expected it to be dark, but it seemed that the ice was letting in the light, focusing it here in the center. Toothless was just as amazed as she was, keeping close in this new situation, but looking around in wonder. He'd never seen this many dragons before, either, not even when he'd been captured by the Red Death. He looked up and growled, spotting the Stormcutter and his mother hanging from the ceiling.

"This is where you've been for twenty years?" She nodded. "You've been rescuing them." She nodded again, a slight smile curving her lips. "Unbelievable."

"You're not upset?" Valka asked, almost as if she expected a different reaction to this news. How many children could be separated from their mothers for twenty years, only to find out that they weren't dead and had been rescuing dragons, perfectly able to come back at any time and let them know they were alive, wouldn't be upset by this news?

"What? No. I don't know. It's a bit much to get my head around, to be frank," Hiccup said, her thoughts still whirling like mad through her head. "I mean, it's not every day you find out that your mother is some kind of crazy, feral vigilante dragon lady."

"Well, at least I'm not boring," she chuckled, using her staff and one of the hooks on her Stormcutter's wings to slide down to the ground. "Right?"

"I suppose there's that one _specific_ thing," Hiccup answered, turning to the Changewing that had been nudging her, gently petting her snout, happy to have something else to focus on for a minute.

"Do- do you like it?" Valka asked gently, gesturing to the area around them, taking in all the dragons and their home.

"I don't have the words." Hiccup could be perfectly honest about that: she'd never seen anything like it. Toothless caught her attention, surrounded by strange dragons all larger than he was, and she had to bite her lip hard to keep from laughing as he was sniffed by curious dragons, one going so far as to lift his back end to get a better smell. The look of surprise on his face was absolutely hilarious to Hiccup but annoyed Toothless so he roared, making the others back off or fly away completely. Valka laughed a little.

"Can I?" she asked, and Hiccup shrugged a little. It was up to Toothless, really. "Oh, he's beautiful!" she cooed, crouching to set her staff down and make her way over to him. She let him come to her, one hand out to let him catch her scent. Hiccup laughed to herself: quickest way to get to Toothless, other than fish, was to appeal to his vanity. Toothless would scoff and say he didn't have vanity, but she knew he did. She watched as Toothless sniffed her hand then gave her face a gentle nudge. "Incredible!" Toothless wrapped around her, looking more like a big cat than the fierce, ferocious dragon she knew he could be. "He may very well be the last of his kind," Valka told Hiccup as Toothless stretched out, obviously hoping for a belly scratch. "And look! He's your age! No wonder you get along so well."

"Wow!" Toothless rolled over, opening his mouth and showing off his teeth. Valka laughed and did the same, her eyes opening wide when Toothless retracted his teeth. She put both hands on his jaws and opened them gently, looking intently at his gums.

"Retractable teeth!" Her hands stroked his tongue next, which Hiccup found surprising as Toothless didn't really like people putting their hands in his mouth. "How did you manage-"

"I found him in the woods," she replied, one hand rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably. "He was shot down and wounded." Valka gave her a look that Hiccup couldn't read as she got to her feet, stepping over to a dragon nearby.

"This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist's iron traps," she said, pointing out the stub while giving the dragon a stroke. "This Raincutter had her wings sliced by razor netting." She used her staff to lift the wing, showing off the scars. "This poor Gruff was blinded by a tree snare." The dragon changed color as she stroked it, from purple to a yellowish green, it's eyes clouded, filmed over. "And then left to die, alone and scared." With something like a snarl in her voice, she used her staff to lift the prosthetic, before spreading it with her hands. "And this? Did Drago and his trappers do this, too?"

"Heh. Well, crazy thing is," Hiccup began with an awkward laugh, "I'm actually the one who shot him down." Valka looked up, shocked at the admission but curious to see how it had worked out between them. "It's OK, though, he got me back." Hiccup grabbed his upper jaw in her hands and gave his head a gentle shake. "Right, bud? You couldn't save all of me could you? You just had to make it even, so . . . peg leg!" Hiccup tossed her own prosthetic in the air, leaning on Toothless for balance. He pulled back and tossed her onto his back, keeping his head tilted back so she could scratch under his chin, keeping her hands well away from the spot that would drop him, the pair laughing about their shared 'infirmity'. Valka drew closer as the pair settled, stroking Toothless' head a bit.

"What did your father think of your Night Fury friend?"

"He didn't take it all that well," Hiccup admitted, remembering the first couple of days after everything that happened in the Ring and then with the Red Death. "But then, he changed. They all did. Pretty soon, everyone at home had dragons of their own."

"If only that were possible."

"No, really, I-"

"Believe me, I tried, as well," Valka sighed as she rose to her feet again. "But people are not capable of change, Hiccup." She walked toward the edge of the ledge they were standing on, her eyes focused on the middle distance, or old memories, Hiccup wasn't sure. Her Stormcutter gave a cry, then with a playful growl, jumped into the air. "Some of us, we're just born different." As they watched him go, her words painted a picture in Hiccup's mind. "Berk was a land of kill or be killed, but I believed peace was possible. It was a very unpopular opinion. One night, a dragon broke into our house, finding you in your cradle." Valka hid a shudder at the remembered terror of the thought that she'd left her daughter alone, defenseless. "I rushed to protect you, but what I saw . . . it was proof of everything I believed." She remembered standing there, trembling with fear, watching Cloudjumper rocking Hiccup in the cradle. Her amazed gasp startled Cloudjumper, causing his claw to slip and scratch Hiccup's chin. Raising the sword, unsure if the dragon would harm her or not, she stared into gentle, curious eyes. "This wasn't a vicious beast, but a kind and gentle creature, who's soul reflected my own." Heaving a sigh, she went on. "You and your father nearly died that night, all because I couldn't kill a dragon."

"Yeah, it runs in the family."

"It broke my heart to stay away," she said, looking away before turning back, "but I believed you'd be safer if I did."

"How did you survive?"

"Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to hurt me." She looked over her shoulder at him with a smile before turning to lead Hiccup and Toothless down to the next ledge, where someone was waiting to meet them. "He must have thought I belonged here, in the home of the great Bewilderbeast. The Alpha species. One of the very few that still exist. Every nest has a queen, but _this_ is the _king_ of all dragons." Below them was an enormous white dragon with gray spikes coming out here and there over it's face and body. Hiccup knew that even the Red Death would have been dwarfed by this mighty creature. As dragons flew by, they all paused for a moment to bow in respect to him before taking off again. "With his icy breath, this graceful giant built our nest and a safe haven for dragons everywhere."

"Wait, _that's_ the ice spitter?" she wondered, trying to reconcile the damage with the dragon she was seeing now. They were closer now, and she could feel . . . something in the air around him, but she didn't know what it might be. "He's responsible for all that destruction?"

"He protects us," Valka corrected, firmly but gently, leading them passed a group of baby Nadders. They were scattered by Cloudjumper when they tried to chew on Toothless. "We all live under his care, and his command." They watched as the baby Nadders flew around and landed on the Bewilderbeast, who allowed it with a sort of amused indulgence. "All but the babies, of course," she said, laughing as the Alpha gently shook the babies free of his face with a gentle puff of air, "who listen to no one!" Valka, Cloudjumper and Toothless all bowed as his enormous head lifted, bringing himself up to look at them all. Hiccup couldn't look away, deep green eyes meeting over a short distance. "I've lived among them for twenty years, Hiccup, discovering their secrets."

 _Welcome, youngling,_ a deep and unimaginably ancient voice spoke in her mind as he blew out a breath, covering the top of her head in snow. She got the impression of a gentle, compassionate power, one that would protect anyone under his care. Peaceful though he was, she could still see a few scars on him, proving that his power wasn't one to be questioned lightly.

"He likes you," Valka said with a laugh as Hiccup brushed the snow free with a dazed look.

"Wow."

"You must be hungry."

"Yeah, I could eat." She'd missed lunch and hadn't had a chance to grab dinner before leaving Berk to find Eret. With how long it had taken to get to the nest from his ship, it was probably coming up on breakfast again. Hiccup was thoroughly surprised that Toothless hadn't started complaining before now.

"Good." Valka took her hand and led her away from the edge, back toward where they'd come in. "It's feeding time."


End file.
